


simple. happy. nothing crazy

by zeitgeistofnow (orphan_account)



Category: The Politician (TV 2019)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Implied/Referenced Transphobia, Platonic Relationships, Pre-Canon, Trans Male Character, but that's because i think that they don't act how they act around payton all the time, but this is what u get!!, i rly love james, it's like... rly mild. just misgendering by a cashier, mentioned skye/mcafee and i don't think it makes sense with the timeline, they're also both just a bit (james especially) a bit ooc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-12-24 12:40:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21099614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/zeitgeistofnow
Summary: “it’s come to my attention that neither of us are in ownership of a quality suit,” james says, lounging on mcafee’s bed. he absently runs a hand over his newly shaved head and raises an eyebrow at her.“that’s true,” mcafee says, and raises an eyebrow back.“we should,” james decides. “it’s a staple of a man’s wardrobe. have you ever seen a campaign manager without a suit? all men need a nice suit.”“i am not a man,” mcafee says, and goes back to typing up her english essay.“lesbians too,” james concedes, and they both smile.what it says on the tin. james and mcafee go suit shopping and also have some ice cream





	simple. happy. nothing crazy

**Author's Note:**

> title is from "blind" by be steadwell. def check her out!!

They drive up to the suit store- the boutique? They’ve both only ever shopped for women’s clothes and they’re not sure what anything’s called. James is wearing a pair of ridiculous shades, shiny silver and green-blue that take up half of his face, Mcafee is wearing a shirt that says  _ fuck the bourgeoisie,  _ and they’re both so flush with money that they know they could bring a small monkey into the store and be greeted with a smile. They revel in it because they know that they can. For now. 

James throws open the huge glass doors and struts inside. There’s a swagger in his step that no one but Mcafee knows is practiced, not even Payton. Mcafee has never considered herself territorial, but it feels nice to know something that Payton doesn’t.

“Misses?” The man at the counter looks alarmed. “This is a men’s suit store.”

James stops and crosses his arms. “And what about it? I’m a man.”

“And I’m gay,” Mcafee voulenteers, standing right behind James. She hesitantly puts a hand on his back and he leans into it. She’s not even sure if it’s conscious. “We figured men and lesbians should have nice suits.”

“We can pay,” James says, pulling his shiny-ass debit card out of his pocket, and the cashier lights up. 

“Well, well, I suppose we should try tailoring for women some time.”

“Not a woman,” James cuts in. The man waves him off.

“Yes, of course. I apologize.” He gestures at the room and says, “Please look around. Tell me when you find a design to your liking and we can get it tailored in the  _ nick  _ of time. Thank you.”

“Hm,” James says, and Mcafee can hear the rebuttal on the tip of his tongue. She takes his hand before he can open his mouth and drags him to the other end of the showroom. Her sneakers squeak against the polished concrete floor. 

“What an asshole,” she finally remarks, staring up at a mannequin.

“Haha, yeah.” James leans against the wall and stares up at the ceiling. “Maybe this was a bad idea,” he says.

Mcafee frowns at the buttons on the suit she’s examining and moves onto the next one, a bit closer to James. She takes and squeezes his hand. “Why?”

“He’s not the only asshole,” James states. He absently tangles their fingers together. His fingers are longer than her’s. Piano player’s fingers. “How’s a trans campaign manager going to look on the road? What if I cost Payton the election because some Christian mom from Montana thinks he’s endorsing sin when she looks at me? It might be smart for me to just go back in the closet.”

“Over my dead body,” Mcafee says and moves onto the next suit, dragging James with her. This one’s a dusty blue. Not  _ exactly  _ her color. Next one: jewel green.  _ Hm.  _

“It’d be the smart choice. You know, for Payton.”

“Payton’s not your entire world.”

“He’s my future,” James says. 

Mcafee examines the green suit more closely. It’s a nice fabric, the kind her mom says doesn’t fade easily. It’s kinda bright, but maybe making an impression isn’t a bad thing. “He’s kind of a prick. I’ve never seen him display an emotion, not even with Alice.”

She glances over at James. His jaw clenches involuntarily when she mentions Alice. “You’ve got a tell,” Mcafee says absently. “You’ll have to figure that out before you talk to Payton about her.”

“She cheating on him,” James blurts. 

“With you,” Mcafee verifies. 

“Yeah.” James tugs on his tie. It’s an ugly tie, stolen from his dad, who has the taste of an obscenely rich walrus. 

“I’m sorry,” Mcafee says. “I know you-”

“I’m in love with her, yeah.” James looks truly victimized for the first time this afternoon, sad eyes and cupid’s bow mouth turning down at the edges. 

Mcafee bumps into him with her shoulder and sighs. “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s just pay for these suits and go get ice cream. The atmosphere in here is kinda stifling.”

“Bad vibes,” James agrees. “Have you picked out a jacket yet?”

Mcafee glances up at the green one. “Uh. I think so, yeah. You?”

“Yup.” James points at a dark blue double-tailed coat and Mcafee almost laughs. “I figure suits won’t be my thing, so I might as well go all out.”

“I mean, you do you.”

“Hey!” James crosses his eyes and sticks his tongue out at her. An imitation of his third grade self, back when it was just the two of them, making faces and trying to make each other laugh. 

She giggles. “No, no, the suit’s very handsome. I like it.”

The asshole counter man tells them to come back in a few days to get the suits tailored. James glares at him and Mcafee isn’t sure if tipping suit-counter-men is even a thing, but she very pointedly  _ doesn’t. _ They get ice cream. James: dark chocolate and raspberry in a tiny cardboard cup. Mcafee: superman and licorice in a sprinkle-dipped waffle cone. James makes a face when he sees her order and she wrinkles her nose back at him.

“How can you eat that stuff? It’s like… Nintendo Switch cartridge levels of bitter.”

“It’s better than eating a chemistry laboratory. There’s not a shred of natural flavoring in your play-dough-and-black-jelly-bean cone,” James says. 

“Like they put _real raspberries _in their sorbet. Get over yourself, Sullivan.” Mcafee screws up her face and pushes up her nose. James laughs- a full, belly laugh. Masculine. _Practiced. _He used to giggle. And it’s not like she doesn’t get it. It’s totally okay for him to change himself to act and look how he wants, but he just keeps changing. She worries he’ll just keep changing away from her and she’ll be alone. 

James must see a change in her face because he reaches out to her, carefully placing a hand over her non-ice cream holding one. 

Mcafee turns his palm up and intertwines their fingers.

James's fingers tap at the steering wheel thoughtfully. “I thought the suits would be a bigger deal than it was. Like when I bought my first suit I’d actually feel like a  _ man. _ ”

“You don’t already?”

James doesn’t look at her. He never looks away from the road while he’s driving because he’s a responsible young man. “I feel like a boy in a girl’s body. I thought I’d feel like everything fit when I picked it out, you know?”

“Well, you haven’t  _ really  _ tried it on yet.” Mcafee takes a bite of her cone and shrugs. “Maybe-”

“Nah.” James’s hands tighten around the steering wheel. “Nothing clicked.”

“I think things clicking is a myth. I think we’ll all probably be a bit uncomfortable with any identity we assume, especially the non-normative ones. I thought someone would click when I kissed a girl, but I just… liked it. There weren’t any fireworks or epiphanies. It was just like, nice.”

“You’ve kissed someone?” The car swerves just a little bit.

Mcafee smirks at her reflection in the rearview mirror. “Yeah, dude. You’re not the only one here who’s got  _ game.” _

“Yeah, yeah. Who?”

“A lady doesn’t tell.”

“It was Skye, then?”

Mcafee rolls her eyes. “Yeah.”

“Huh.”

“You don’t like her,” Mcafee states. James shrugs at the street in front of him.

“She thought I was a lesbian when we met.”

“ _ You  _ thought you were a lesbian when you met.”

“Shouldn’t she be able to  _ know,  _ though? Psychically? With her gaydar or something?”

“You don’t believe in the sixth sense or gaydar,” Mcafee points out. She takes a bite and finishes her cone. "And she figured out you were queer at least.”

“A sixth grader with 20/40 vision could figure out I was queer.” James leans back in the car seat and sighs. “I don’t not like her, though. She scares me a little.”

“She’s a little scary. I think I like that, though.” Mcafee shrugs. “Most people think we’re scary.”

“If that’s the price to pay for them to love Payton,” James finally says. He lets go of the steering wheel with one hand and takes Mcafee’s.

She stares out at the road, the thin yellow highway lines disappearing behind them, the trees rushing past. “Yeah.”

**Author's Note:**

> okay so yeah!!  
-they're a bit ooc but that's because like really...... their thing w payton is kinda like employment and i think they act less uptight when it's just the two of them: for example we see in that one scene w skye and mcafee that mcafee is totally capable of being a normal teenager and in the voter we see that james is capable of faking a lot of different emotions/changing how he acts really easily. also i just wanted to write queer friendship.  
-i am ON BOARD with the politician not talking about james being trans like that's really cool of them but also..... _i_ want to talk about it, you know? so here's that  
-also i'm so bitter we don't learn more about these two honestly. we find out that james is In Love with alice and it doesn't come up again???? tbh i'm still hoping those two are endgame and........ and same w skye/mcafee but that's more bc i think they're both hot and were really cute together!!! like sureee skye tried to murder mcafee's best friend but like i think they're both getting past that! and lots of people tried to murder payton it's really whatever. but like overall i don't rly care about payton and astrid and infinity i just REALLY care about james and mcafee and skye, you know?
> 
> anyway! kudos and comments make my life!! i hope u enjoyed.


End file.
